David Carr:
Mr. Baker, a neoconservative columnist of acute political views, has been especially active in managing coverage in Washington, creating significant grumbling, if not resistance, from the staff there. Reporters say the coverage of the Obama administration is reflexively critical, the health care debate is generally framed in terms of costs rather than benefits — “health care reform” is a generally forbidden phrase — and global warming skeptics have gotten a steady ride. (Of course, objectivity is in the eyes of the reader.)
The WSJ responds:
The news column by a Mr David Carr today is yet more evidence that The New York Times is uncomfortable about the rise of an increasingly successful rival while its own circulation and credibility are in retreat. The usual practice of quoting ex-employees was supplemented by a succession of anonymous quotes and unsubstantiated assertions.
Is Carr right? I don't know; we don't get the Journal on campus and I also read Peggy Noonan's column irregularly. But it underlines the point that as news gathering becomes easy and free, thanks to the internet, most of the people buying papers will be those that care the most about politics. That sub-section is, by definition, probably more partisan, which makes partisan journalism a winning strategy. Lame but true.
"we don't get the Journal on campus"
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the College subscribe to the on-line version? If not, it should.